50 Fun Facts About Haleakala National Park

Haleakalā National Park is on which Hawaiian island?

The volcano it is named for makes up more than three-quarters of the island; the West Maui Mountains are the rest.

What does the name Haleakalā mean in Hawaiian?

In legend the demigod Māui snared the sun from its summit to make the days longer.

According to legend, why did the demigod Māui lasso the sun from the mountaintop?

His mother Hina complained her bark cloth would not dry in the short days; the sun agreed to long summer days and short winter ones.

What did Māui use to make the rope with which he snared the sun?

In one version his blind grandmother helped him after he stole her bananas one by one; the constellation Scorpius is his fishhook.

How high is the summit of Haleakalā, at Puʻu ʻUlaʻula?

Puʻu ʻUlaʻula means Red Hill; the volcano may once have topped 12,000 feet before erosion carved its valleys.

Despite its name, Haleakalā Crater is geologically what?

It formed when the heads of two big stream valleys ate back into the summit and merged, leaving the Koʻolau and Kaupō gaps on either side.

Roughly how deep is the summit depression of Haleakalā?

It is about 7 miles long and 2 miles wide, dotted with cinder cones and crossed by two National Recreation Trails.

When did Haleakalā most likely last erupt, according to radiocarbon dating published in 1999?

It had long been dated to about 1790 from old maps; the flows from that last event form the lava fields at La Perouse Bay in South Maui.

Haleakalā is officially classed as what kind of volcano?

It has erupted ten times in the past 1,000 years and is the only active volcano on Maui, so geologists say it is not extinct, just resting.

Haleakalā was originally part of a 1916 park that also included which two Big Island volcanoes?

That original Hawaii National Park was split into two separate parks in 1961.

In which year did Hawaiʻi Volcanoes become a separate park, leaving Haleakalā on its own?

Haleakalā's first superintendent, John Stratton, took office that October; the park has been in the Pacific West Region ever since.

The park is split into two districts: the summit and which coastal area?

You cannot drive between them inside the park; reaching the coast means the long winding road around the windward side of the island.

The two dozen pools along Palikea Stream in the park's coastal district lie in a gulch called what?

Tourist brochures dubbed them the Seven Sacred Pools; the stream holds rare native freshwater fish.

The Pipiwai Trail in the coastal district ends at which 400-foot waterfall?

The trail climbs through a bamboo forest to reach it; swimming is no longer allowed in the park's pools.

The upper valley above the park's coastal district is closed to the public as a reserve to protect what?

Access is limited to researchers and managers; it separates the summit district from the coastal one.

Which famous aviator is buried at Palapala Hoʻomau Church beside the park's coastal district?

He built an A-frame there in 1971, sketched his own grave in traditional Hawaiian style, and flew home to die there in August 1974.

The silversword, or ʻāhinahina, of Haleakalā flowers how many times in its life?

After perhaps 50 years as a silver ball of leaves it throws up a stalk of up to 600 maroon flower heads, sets seed and dies.

What does ʻāhinahina, the Hawaiian name for the silversword, literally mean?

The silver hairs focus sunlight to warm the growing tip by up to 20 degrees C and shield the plant from wind and frost.

What nearly wiped out the Haleakalā silversword before it gained protection?

People in the 1920s uprooted them for fun; the plant has been federally listed as threatened since 1992 and is counted a conservation success.

Which endangered goose, Hawaii's state bird, did Boy Scouts carry into Haleakalā crater in backpacks in 1946?

The species had died out entirely in the park; by 1952 only about 30 survived anywhere, and it is still the world's rarest goose.

The nēnē is thought to have evolved from which mainland bird that reached Hawaii 500,000 years ago?

Its relatives included a giant Hawaiʻi goose more than four times its size; the nēnē's name comes from its soft call.

Roughly how many nēnē were left in the wild by 1952?

Hunting, mongooses, pigs and cats had cut a population of about 25,000 in Captain Cook's day to almost nothing; there were 3,862 by 2022.

Haleakalā National Park holds more of what than any other US national park?

Feral pigs, goats and deer plus mosquito-borne avian malaria are the main pressures on its unique plants and birds.

Biologist Sam Gon III called Haleakalā the richest place on Earth for which tiny creatures?

He found 31 species of the microscopic water bears surviving in the extreme summit environment in the 1980s.

The kiwikiu, one of three honeycreepers found only on East Maui, has a population of roughly how many?

Attempts to move birds to higher, cooler ground failed as malaria-carrying mosquitoes climbed too; millions of Wolbachia-carrying male mosquitoes are now released weekly to crash the mosquito population.

In 2023, what technique did the park adopt against the insects spreading avian malaria?

Eggs from females that mate with the Wolbachia males never hatch; about 10 million had been released by June 2024.

Which endangered seabird now nests mostly in burrows in Haleakalā crater?

Cats, mongooses and rats eat the chicks in their burrows, so the park works hard to keep feral animals out.

Hosmer Grove near the summit road is unusual for a national park because it is a forest of what?

Deodar cedar from the Himalaya, Japanese sugi, Australian eucalyptus and North American pines shade out the natives; it has a drive-up campground.

When the sunrise reservation system began in 2017, which hours needed a permit at the summit?

The system was brought in to control the crowds that jam the summit lots before dawn; sunset needed no permit.

Why did the Park Service suspend all commercial bicycle tours inside the park in 2007?

Operators used to coast riders down all 27 miles from the summit; modified tours now start below the park boundary at about 6,500 feet.

The switchbacking Haleakalā Highway to the summit was completed in which year?

It is a well-kept two-lane road of blind turns where cattle sometimes wander onto the tarmac.

What is the cluster of telescopes just past the summit nicknamed?

It sits above the tropical inversion layer on a gated road outside the park boundary; the Maui Space Surveillance System tracks satellites and debris.

Which sky-survey telescope on Haleakalā, added in 2006, has found thousands of asteroids and comets?

The 1.8-metre PS1 compares each night's images with earlier ones to spot anything that moved or changed.

The 1964 Haleakalā solar observatory is named after which British-born photographic scientist?

The site was Hawaii's first astronomical research observatory and sits above a third of the atmosphere; Mees spent his career at Eastman Kodak.

How many wilderness cabins can hikers rent inside Haleakalā crater?

There are also two backcountry tent sites; camping anywhere in the park is capped at three nights in 30.

Which two main trails drop into the crater from the summit area?

Both are National Recreation Trails, and both make you climb 2,000 feet or more back out at altitude.

How big is Haleakalā National Park?

Nearly 25,000 of those acres are designated wilderness; the boundaries were expanded in 2005.

In which year did UNESCO designate the park an International Biosphere Reserve?

A proposed 2000 act to make the Hawaiian spelling official for the park's name never became law.

What share of the island of Maui is formed by the Haleakalā volcano?

It began building about 2 million years ago along three rift zones; the east rift continues under the sea as Haleakalā Ridge.

The summit of Haleakalā has one of the world's rare examples of which climate type?

Mornings at the top can hit freezing before warming to the 50s and 60s; the coastal district is warm and wet.

Which state highway climbs from Kula to the summit district entrance?

From the entrance station it is 11 more miles and 3,000 vertical feet to the top.

What is the traditional Hawaiian name for the rare Partulina tree snails of the park's rainforest?

They live only in the wet forests, mostly in the coastal district's valley, while native insects and spiders range across the shrublands too.

Who wrote the first description of the park's seaside coast in 1786, marvelling at its waterfalls and villages?

He reckoned the shore was so densely settled that several leagues of coast looked like a single village; whaling later drew people away to Lahaina.

How many species of plants grow in Haleakalā National Park?

They include four endemic geraniums and the endangered Haleakalā schiedea.

Roughly how many of the park's 33,265 acres are designated wilderness?

The land became a national park in its own right in 1976 and its boundaries were expanded in 2005.

How far across is Haleakalā Crater?

It is about 6.99 miles long, 2 miles wide and 2,600 feet deep, dotted with cinder cones.

Which Himalayan tree grows in Hosmer's Grove alongside Japanese sugi and Australian eucalyptus?

The tall alien trees leave native plants too little light to thrive.

How many tardigrade species did biologist Sam Gon III discover near the summit in the 1980s?

He called Haleakalā the richest place on Earth for the microscopic 'water bears'.

How many endemic species of geranium grow in Haleakalā National Park?

They are among more than 850 plant species in the park, including the endangered Haleakalā schiedea.

What was the name of the first superintendent of Haleakalā National Park, appointed in 1961?

Natalie Gates has held the post since 2013.